Noguera



Dec. 7, 1954 J, NQGUERA 2,696,026

DRAFTING APPARATUS FOR TEXTILE FIBERS Filed Feb; 11, 1952 United DRAFTING APPARATUS FOR TEXTILE FIBERS Application February 11, 1952, Serial No. 276,963

@laims priority, application Great Britain .l'nne 13, 1951 7 Claims. (Cl. 19--131) This invention relates to drafting apparatus for textile fibres of the kind in which a number of drafting units, each including co-operating top and bottom drafting rollers, are arranged side by side, and in which roller bosses mounted in pairs on common axes, with an intermediate relatively rotatable neck portion between each pair of bosses, constitute respectively top rollers for two adjacent units, the roller bosses being carried by a pivoted support arm which engages the neck portion there between.

A main object of the present invention is to facilitate the use of such apparatus with the well known Casablancas two-belt drafting system in which a pair of top and bottom drafting rollers of each unit support the rear ends of respective belt loops having co-operating runs between which the fibres are caused to pass.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a drafting apparatus of the kind specified employing superposed endless belt loops carried, at their rear ends on top and bottom drafting rollers, wherein the belt loops are guided laterally and supported at the forward ends by separate upper and lower cradles riding respectively on the top and bottom drafting rollers, said cradles being adapted to be releasably coupled together in the operative position and being so arranged that the upper cradle together with the associated top roller can be lifted from, or returned to, the operative position by raising or lowering the support arm about its pivot.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a drafting apparatus of the kind specified employing superposed endless belt loops respectively carried, at their rear ends, on upper and lower draftlng rollers, and separate upper and lower cradles for laterally guiding and supporting the forward endsof the respective belt loops, wherein the upper cradle is adapted, at the rear end, to ride on the top roller which can be raised or lowered with the support arm, means being provided to control the downward swing of the forward end of the top cradle when the support arm 13 raised, and wherein the said forward end of the top cradle is adapted for operative positioning in relation to the bottom cradle by coupling means arranged automatically to disengage, when the top cradle is lifted by the support arm from its operative position, and automatically to engage when the said top cradle, occupying a roughly oriented disengaging position on the top roller, is lowered by the support arm.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, one embodiment thereof i will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional side elevation through the relevant part of a drafting apparatus constructed according to the invention, the figure showing a complete drafting unit with an associated support arm in the operative position and showing also part of the support arm 1n an inoperative position in chain-dotted lines, and

Figure 2 is a plan view showing the relevant parts of two adjacent drafting units with the position of the support arm indicated in chain-dotted lines.

Referring now to the drawings, each drafting unit includes two elongated endless belt loops 1 and 2 which are superposed with their adjacent runs in contact in known manner, the belt loop 1 being supported at its rear end by a top roller boss 3 and, at its forward end, by a tensor member 4, and the belt loop 2 being supported, at its rear end, by a bottom roller 5 and, at its Patent 0 forward end, by a tensor member 6. A lower cradle is provided for laterally locating and guiding the lower belt loop 2, this cradle being composed of two parallel side walls 7 rigidly coupled together by transverse bars 8 and 9. In the front edges of the cradle side walls 7 there are provided elongated aligned notches 10 which incline downwardly towards the rear and receive the tensor member 6 which extends through the belt loop 2 as shown and provides a guide and support for the front end of this loop. Corresponding notches 12 are also provided in the upper edge of each cradle side wall, towards the rear of the latter, for the reception of neck portions of the roller boss 3 whilst, below the slots 12, the lower edges of the cradle wall 7 are provided with corresponding notches 13 whereby the cradle is located on neck portions at each end of the bottom belt-supporting roller 5 so as to ride on this latter roller. The cradle side walls 7 are, furthermore, each extended at the rear end to provide two projections 14, 14a which are arranged partially to embrace a middle traverse rod 15 of the apparatus which carries condensers 16, there being one such condenser positioned immediately behind each pair of co-operating belt loops. The rearward projections 14, 14a of the lower cradle serve to prevent the latter swinging too far from its normal position when the top roller is lifted as will be hereinafter explained.

At their front upper corners the bottom cradle side walls 7 are each provided with an upwardly and rearwardly extending hook portion 17 which merges into the upper edge of the associated cradle wall to provide an inclined guide path 18 the purpose of which will be later described.

The upper belt loop 1 is narrower than the lower loop 2 and is laterally guided and located by an entirely separate upper cradle having spaced parallel side walls 19. The walls 19 are linked, at their forward ends, by means of a transverse block which extends through the forward end of the upper belt loop 1 and constitutes the tensor 4 for guiding and supporting the forward end of this loop. The distance apart of the upper cradle side walls 19 is considerably less than the distance apart of the lower cradle side walls 7 so that the upper cradle can be arranged to lie partially between the upper edges of the lower cradle side walls 7 which extend above the lower belt loop as shown and can readily be positioned therebetween without fouling these walls 7.

The lower edges of the upper cradle side walls 19, towards the rear end of the latter, are notched as at 20 for engagement with necks on the upper belt-supporting roller boss 3 so that the upper cradle rides on the upper belt roller. At the forward or leading end, each upper cradle side wall 19 is provided with a laterally projecting pin 21 which is arranged to engage in the hook portion on the upper leading corner of the adjacent lower cradle side wall 7 to provide releasable couplings whereby the two cradles, and thus also the upper and lower tensor members 4 and 6, are retained in their correct relative working positions.

In accordance with usual practice, the endless belt loops 1 and 2 of each unit are followed by a pair of cooperating drawing rollers 22 and are preceded by further pairs of drawing rollers 23 and 24, several identical units as described being arranged side by side along the apparatus as will be understood.

The top roller boss 3, in this example, forms part of a top roller composed of an elongated arbor having a fixed boss 3 at each end, the bosses being separated by a loose sleeve 25 having a central neck portion 25a. The neck 25a is gripped by a spring clip (not shown) on a support arm 26 which thus carries the top belt-supporting bosses of two adjacent units. The sleeve 25 may be provided with flats 25b near each end for cooperation with the notches 20 in the lower edges of the innermost side walls 19 of the top cradles of the associated drafting units. Rounded parts of the sleeve 25 adjacent the flats 25b then engage in the notches 12 in the upper edges of the innermost lower cradle side walls of these units. Coaxial projections 4a formed on the outer ends of the respective bosses 3, in one piece with the latter, constitute the outermost roller necks and engage in the notches 12 in the upper edges of the outermost lower .ona fixed rear bar 27 of 'the' machine.

cradle side walls 7 for the purpose of aiding the location of the rear ends of the upper cradles in relation to the lower cradles. These outermost roller necks may, in some cases, be omitted. The shape of the flats 25b at each endof thesleeve"5an'd the associated notches 20 in the innermost top cradle side walls is such as toprevent rotation of the two associated top' cradles in relation to the sleeve 25 about the longitudinal axis of the top roller.

The support arml261is of known designand is pivoted 'This arm 26 is also arranged to supply weighting pressure'to the top draftingrollers inknown manner. The spring clip thereon, whichiis intended togrip the neck portion 25a of the sleeve as aforesaid, is arranged to resist free rotation of the sleeve but it' is, however, easily possible to overcome the smallfrictional resistance of the spring clip when the turning of the sleeve becomes necessary.

The top rollers of the roller pairs 22, 23 and 24 of adjacent drafting units are also constituted by bosses carried on common axes and are carried by the support arm in the same manner as the belt-supporting bosses.

With the construction described, the forward ends of the top cradles will only be able to swing downwards, when the support arm is lifted, by rotating the sleeve 25 in view of the engagement of the notches 20 with the flats 25b. Rotation of the sleeve is, however, resisted by the spring clip as aforesaid so that any swinging movement of the cra'dleis, in effect, controlled by this clip. As an alternative or additional arrangement, however, positive stops 28 may be provided on the support arm to prevent the top cradles swinging downward beyond a certain point be provided on the top cradles for engagement with the I support arm.

With the construction described, if the weighting arm 26 is hinged upwardly about the rod 27, the upper belt loop supporting roller bosses 3 and the rear ends of the upper cradles are lifted with it. When this occurs, the forwardends of theuppcr cradles, provided with the pins 21 which engage the hooked portions 17 of the lower cradles, are'automatically swung downwardly into a position in which the pins can readily leave their engaging hook portions 17 so that the upper cradles become quite free to move upwards with the support arm into the position shown in chain-dotted lines in Figure 1. Once the pins 21 on the upper cradles-19 have become disengaged as aforesaid, the upper cradles -Will-tend'to be retained in the angular disengaging position either by the frictional action of the spring clip on the sleeve 25, when flats are provided on the sleeve, or by reason of the stops 28 engaging the projections 19a on the rear ends of the cradles as aforesaid, or, if desired, by the combined action of the spring clip-and stops. Consequently, when the support arm is returned to its operative position, the pins 21 on the upper cradles are approximately in position for engaging the hooked portions 17 and are finally guided therein by means of thecamsurfaces 18 on the upper edges of the lower cradle side walls 7. At the same time, the roller neck portions will settle into the notches in the upper edges of the appropriate bottom cradle side walls and the whole apparatus will thus again be automatically located in the correct working position. It will be appreciated that there will be little fear of the apparatus becoming jammed or otherwise misaligned in view of the fact that the upper cradle is considerably narrower than the lower cradle and can therefore readily fit between the side walls thereof. As an example, the width of the lower cradle may be such as to provide some two millimetres clearance between adjacent walls of the upper and lower cradles, i. e. the upper cradle may be some four millimetres narrower than the lower cradle. In the construction where only the spring clip is used to keep the cradles in the approximate disengaging position whilst the weighting arm is raised, they may be accidentally knocked away from this position, but it is then a simple matter to re-orientate them by hand since this need only be done very roughly, and the apparatus Will centre itself into the correct working position when the arm is lowered.

In order to vary the gap between the forward ends of the belt loops, the bottom tensor member 6 can bereadily replaced by a member of different size or, alternatively, the bottom tensor can be made to give a different gap depending upon which way up it is inserted into the receiving slots 10 in the lower cradle.

The invention has been described with particular reference to top belt-carrying rollers of the fixed boss type but it will be appreciated that it can readily be employed with any form of top roller incorporating two bosses which are spaced apart on a common axis.

1 claim:

1. Drafting apparatus for textile fibres comprising adjoining drafting units each having a pair of superposed drafting rollers carrying respectively the rear ends of cooperating belt loops, the top rollers of said units being mounted on a common axis with an intermediate neck portion therebetween, a pivotally mounted top roller weighting and carrying arm which engages said intermediate neck portion, lower cradles riding one on the bottom roller of each said unit for laterally guiding and supporting the forward ends of the respective lower belt loops, separate upper cradles riding one on the top roller of each said unit for laterally guiding and supporting the forward ends of the respective upper belt loops and means for releasably coupling, in the operative position, the forward ends of upper and lower cradles in a unit to enable the upper cradles of said adjoining units, together with the associated top rollers and upper belt loops, to be lifted from, and returned to, their operative positions by raising or lowering said support arm about its pivot.

2. Drafting apparatus for textile fibres comprising adjoining drafting units each having a pair of superposed drafting rollers carrying respectively the rear ends of cooperating belt loops, the top rollers of said units being mounted on a common axis with a relatively rotatable neck portion therebetween, lower belt supporting and guiding cradles which ride one on the bottom roller of each said unit, separate upper belt supporting and guiding cradles riding one on the top roller of each said unit, a top roller weighting and carrying arm which can be raised and lowered about a rear pivot between operative and non-operative positions and which engages said top roller neck portion, means for controlling the downward swing of the forward ends of said upper cradles when the support arm is raised, and coupling means for operatively locking together the forward ends of upper and lower cradles of a unit, said coupling means being automatically released, on initial raising of the support arm, by a downward swing of said forward upper cradle ends, to permit the top rollers and associated cradles and belts to be raised with said support arm, and being automatically re-engaged, by a reverse movement of said forward upper cradle ends, during a final lowering movement of the arm.

3. Drafting apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said upper and lower cradles each have spaced side walls, said upper cradle side walls being considerably more closely spaced than said lower cradle side walls to avoid the respective cradle walls fouling each other when the upper cradles are operatively positioned, and in which said coupling means is in the form of projections extending laterally from the forward ends of the side walls of each said upper cradle and hook shaped rearwardly directed extensions forming receiving slots for said projections in the leading upper corners of the side walls of each said lower cradle.

4. Drafting apparatus as claimed in claim? in which the upper edges of said lower cradle side walls adjacent said slots are upwardly inclined from the slots towards the rear of the cradles to provide guide paths for guiding said projections into said slots when said support arm is lowered.

5. Drafting apparatus as claimed in claim 2 further including rearward projections on said lower cradles shaped partially to embrace a middle traverse bar of the apparatus to prevent said lower cradles swinging too far from the normal position when said associated top cradles are disengaged therefrom.

6. Drafting apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which each said lower cradle has side walls provided with slots in both lower and upper edges for engaging respectively neck portions of saidlower and upper belt carrying rollers.

7. Drafting apparatus as claimed in' c1aim2 in which a fixed stop is provided for controlling the downward swing of said top cradle members in relation to said sup- 5 port arm member, said stop being fixed on one of the said FOREIGN PATENTS members and abutting the other said member. Number Colintry D 1929 137,382 Switzer and ec. References Clted In the file of thls Patent 5 336,986 Great Britain Oct 17 30 UNITED STATES PATENTS 359,837 Great Britain Oct. 29, 1931 Number 963,446 France July 10, 1950 Name Date 2,206,432 Schofield July 2, 1940 

